Gymnastics Places 3rd in Quad Meet at West Virginia

Feb 20, 2011

Chelsea Steinberg

MORGANTOWN, W.V. – Chelsea Steinberg (Ridgewood, N.J.) tied for second place on vault with a season-best 9.875 performance, and Ali Carr (Chelmsford, Mass.) tied for fourth place on uneven bars with a 9.825 as the UNH gymnastics team finished third in a quad meet at West Virginia University on Sunday afternoon.

UNH's record moves to 8-5 on the season after the 'Cats totaled 194.4 points. The University of Florida, the No. 1 team in the country, earned the victory with 196.875 points, followed by West Virginia (195.225) and fourth-place George Washington (193.05).

The Wildcats began the meet on balance beam, with Katie Caliendo (Manorville, N.Y.) registering team-high honors with a 9.725, tied for eighth. A team score of 47.8 was UNH's lowest of the four events. Florida (49.3), West Virginia (48.3) and George Washington (48.075) took the top three spots on beam.

"We did some decent routines that didn't catch the scores that perhaps they would have if we weren't the first team up, so I think we got a little underscored on beam," head coach Gail Goodspeed said.

Austyn Fobes

New Hampshire bounced back on floor exercise with a 48.725, buoyed by a solid 9.825 showing from Austyn Fobes (Howell, N.J.), who tied for fifth place. Steinberg finished just outside the top-5 with a 9.8 (seventh place tie). The Gators (49.125) won the vault competition, and the Mountaineers (48.925) took second place.

"We weren't as sharp as I think we should be on floor; we had some miscues here and there," Goodspeed said. "Austyn and Chelsea did a great job, though."

Steinberg's strong vault propelled New Hampshire to a team tally of 49.125 on the apparatus, behind Florida's 49.25 and better than West Virginia (49.0) and George Washington (48.35). Carr and Fobes also scored well on vault with matching 9.825s, good for a seventh-place tie.

UNH concluded on bars, where Carr's performance was supported by Fobes and Danielle Reibold (Horsham, Pa.), who each scored a 9.8 to tie for seventh place. The Wildcats' team total on bars was 48.75, third to the Gators' 49.2 and the Mountaineers' 49.

"Ali had a bad fall in warm-ups, but thankfully she came back strong to hit for our highest score on bars," Goodspeed said. "The positive news is we'll come back home healthy."

"I'm disappointed because we feel 195 is our mark to strive for, and we scored a 194.4, which wasn't too bad," Goodspeed said. "We feel much closer, if not equal to, West Virginia, so we'll just have to be sharper next time."

The Wildcats return to action with a road meet at the University of Bridgeport on Friday night at 6 p.m. UNH's final home meet is slated for Monday, March 7, against Central Michigan University and Brown University at Lundholm Gymnasium. The Senior Day meet gets underway at 7 p.m. For tickets, call (603) 862-4000, x 5 or CLICK HERE.